France, Ireland, Italy Must Recover Mineral Oils Exemptions

By Drew Singer

Law360, New York (December 10, 2013, 6:40 PM ET) -- Ireland, France and Italy gave illegal state aid to alumina producers when they allowed mineral oils to be exempted from excise duty, the European Court of Justice ruled on Tuesday.

All member states must tax alumina producers at a rate of at least €13.01 per 1,000 kg of heavy fuel oil, but the trio of nations did not do so between February 2002 and December 2003, according to court records.

Among other arguments in the case, which has lasted nearly eight years, the countries said it...